Thorns And Fire
by Raggazzed12
Summary: Wilson finds himself trapped in a deadly thorn bush that the poor Gentleman Scientist knows will kill him. Can anyone save him? Will anyone save him? (Rated T for rather bloody and a bit disturbing descriptions.)
1. Chapter 1

Every time he screamed, pain shot through his body. The thorns were huge, he'd never seen anything like them, and they were alive and killing him. Dark shadows emerged on the edges of his vision, laughing at his predicament. He could feel his clothing rip, the thorns dig into his skin. He would have countless wounds from this, if he survived, and maybe a fracture on his right arm. The chances of survival, though, looked terribly slim to him. He had calculated all the possible outcomes as he stuck there, screaming every few minutes in pain. There was only one fact that he knew to be certain.

Wilson Percival Higgsbury was hanging onto life with the tips of his fingers, and if he didn't act soon, he'd loose his grip.

Truth be told, he'd died before. Oh yes, Wilson had definitely died here before. He couldn't deny it was a rather relaxing feeling, but he still didn't like it. He'd been slashed by hounds, fallen into a Tallbird's nest in the dead of night, chased Beefalos across the ground pursued by angry Pigmen. But out of all these, among others, this had to be the most painful way to go ever.

Looking down at his chest, he gulped and held back a sob of fear and disgust. The skin was ripped and torn; a thorn stuck in his gut, the cloth ripped everywhere. He was bleeding heavily from there, and everywhere else as well. The pain was insufferable. As each moment passed, the young man grew increasingly weaker, but managed somehow to find the strength to weakly fight back, screaming off and on still. He cried out again as a thick thorny branch whacked his left leg, a few thorns catching and sticking in it.

He didn't have his amulet. The thought scared him so much that he fought wildly once more, moving his limbs up and down. If he didn't have his amulet…he was not going to make it. How had he been so foolish to leave- yes he had just called himself foolish, which was surprising but at the moment he had no time to ponder it- to leave his amulet at camp? Had he really thought he wouldn't run into any trouble?

He whimpered slightly, the pain coursing through his body. Suddenly, he fell out of the thorns onto the hard ground, landing belly down. Surely something had happened to let him loose like that? Looking up weakly from his position, he saw fire raging in the thorns. How had that happened? There wasn't anything flammable around… suddenly he spotted a girl, more of a woman, probably around his age, maybe a bit younger, with two black hair tails, large white eyes and holding a … lighter. A pyromaniac? Out here? He hadn't seen any other human being at all here, and now, just as he's bleeding to death, someone comes and attempts to help him? Or was this just a simple act that the woman didn't' think of as kindness? The Gentleman Scientist wanted to call out to her, but he couldn't open his mouth through the pain.

Then she came towards him slowly, obviously in fear. He was lying still on his stomach, no doubt with a pool of blood around him, he could feel it. She came closer, and Wilson looked at her painfully. He was no doubt a mess; he already knew he was, so he found it quite disconcerting that she had appeared then.

"Are you… you're …" She stuttered, gasping. Her eyes and mouth were wide with shock, probably at finding another human.

The man attempted to nod but instead let his head fall onto the ground in exhaustion. His blood was horribly warm and he could feel his heart pounding slower and harder, trying to pump enough blood into him, but he was losing it too fast.

"Here." She started placing warm sticky things onto the various wounds and gashes all over his back and legs, and arms, then turned him over to do the same to the other side. He realized it was cobwebs, and almost moved away, what with his fear of spiders, wondering why she would waist her silk on him.

"You…" It was all he could manage, still choking for breath.

"Just be quiet. I'm going to try and help you here; I don't know how well the webs will hold up." She silenced him, even though he wanted to tell her that webs were the best things for wounds here, being that it was a strong sturdy material that was extremely reliable to help stop blood.

For a while, she was kneeling next to him, with gobs of silk next to her, though he still wasn't sure how she'd gotten all that, and was pressing multiple webs onto his wounds constantly. The first time she pulled out a thorn, he cried out, grabbing at his leg where she had pulled it from. It hurt horribly and even then, a small sliver of his manliness shone through and he worried she thought less of him because he was a wimp for a brief moment. Then he remembered that he was nearly dead, pride didn't exactly matter.

"Lay here and stay still. The bleeding needs to slow down." Well he wasn't stupid, he knew this, and who did she think she was talking to? Wilson once again had to remind himself she was some stranger he'd never ever seen before, and thus decided not to say anything against this.

Minutes passed as he lay there, struggling to stay conscious. He was pretty sure the bleeding had slowed down by now, though his heart was still pounding. Breathing was difficult, while he knew why, it was still terrifying when he found he couldn't breathe in at points. He was really hoping he wasn't going to die now. Wilson figured he was recovering in some way or form, so death probably wouldn't happen. Or so he hoped.

The girl was watching him most of the time, but also seemed to be getting up now and then to tend to a fire she had started at one point. It was morning, so he didn't exactly see the point in it, but when she started putting warm spider silk on his wounds, he figured out why. There was no talking, only silence and he moaned occasionally. Just when Wilson thought it was all over, breathe came to him that seemed to cause his heart to go back to normal, the pain was immense but he was coming back to life.

She appeared to notice and came over by his head, wrapping a bit more silk around his arm, and looked at him. He sighed, closing his eyes gently, trying to relax. It was hard after nearly dying, but somehow he had survived, and would live to see another day in the forsaken land.

"You're going to need sleep."

 _The most obvious thing she's pointed out._ He thought to himself, but only nodded in response. He kept his eyes closed as he felt his body shutting down with sleep. Eventually he dozed off, and unbeknownst to him, the woman watched him as he did so, keeping the fire burning through the day, and applying bandages of silk when needed.

Upon waking up, he found he was staring into the brilliant white eyes of the woman from before. Wilson gasped slightly and tried to sit up, but found the pain was too great, and had to lie back down again. She moved off, looking slightly deterred to find him awake, but only slightly.

"You're feeling better now, are you not?" She asked quietly.

"I… yes." He replied, slightly annoyed but didn't think about it.

"That's good."

"Miss, I seemed to not have gained your name." He said quietly.

"Willow. And you are?" Willow seemed slightly amused by his approach but if she had truly been so, she hid it from him.

"Wilson Percival Higgsbury." A cry of pain came up his throat as a burst of it ran up his leg.

"Well, Wilson, I suppose you ran into trouble with some thorns back there."

"It was… a mistake."

They remained silent for the next few minutes, Wilson pondering on how there was possibly another human being around, and Willow pondering the meaning of Maxwell placing two of them in there. Both were pretty sure it had only been him at first, but now… now neither knew. Wilson still wasn't sure what those thorns had been, so this was just adding onto the mystery.

"I didn't think anyone else was out here." Willow broke through the silence.

"Neither… did I." He gasped out.

"I'm sorry if I cause you any pain."

"It's o-okay I just… it … just hurts."

"I suppose it was a good thing I came along when I did, huh?" He nodded, looking up at her briefly.

"Yes, it … certainly is… Miss."

They lapsed into silence once more, each in their own thoughts once more. A few birds flew overhead singing, the sun hitting its highest point now. Willow got up and left, probably to go get more firewood, though he didn't understand how she could move. It was very hot, and he writhed uncomfortably beneath its beams and all of the bandages on his body. It still felt like he was bleeding in most places, and he was trying to keep down any scream of pain that threatened to emit from him. A Gentleman Scientist he was, and so he remained. _I will not show pain in front of her, I will not show pain in front of-_ His thought was cut off by a cry of pain, everything in his chest suddenly feeling the tearing motion again. His left hand came to grasp at it, trying to make it stop, clutching at it with violent motions. Wilson was jerking around, and would have kept going until he probably died before Willow suddenly came running back, yelling to him.

"Wilson, lay still." She ordered, and he was forced down by her strong grip a moment later. Too weak to refuse, he gave up and lay there as the pain arched through his body. "I need you to stay completely still or you'll bleed again." His legs arched up as he tried to fight back whatever it was.

Something felt like it was in him, and he didn't know what it was, but it was killing him from the inside out, and he wasn't going to last much longer. Willow was trying to hold him down, he could hear her muttering underneath her breath. Whatever it was, it wasn't taking its chances and was killing him immediately. Of course, he could just be going mad, but the scientist doubted it as he had felt something burn his chest.

"What is it?"

"The… thorns… something… evil…" He shouted breathlessly, struggling still.

"I didn't think… okay, I'm going to have to… light you on fire, Wilson. I'm sorry about this. It won't do any major damage to you, it'll just chase whatever it is out. I think." She paused before bringing up a lighter. From his position on the ground, Wilson wasn't sure exactly what it was, but he discovered what it was the minute she lit it.

Still writhing, he cried out when he saw the flame and tried vainly to escape her grasp. Something grabbed the inside of his legs like claws, and he screamed. Whatever it was, it wasn't joking around at this point. Why it hadn't attacked earlier, he was completely unsure of. But he had no time to investigate, because as the pain racked his body, he coughed up blood, to his and Willow's alarm. She pulled out a rag from somewhere and wiped the blood off his lips. The lighter was brought close to his body, and in one instant, one which he could not describe, Willow had grabbed him close to her and was lighting his body on fire!

Yet instead of burning, he could only feel warmth around him, and he could feel whatever it was giving off huge surges of pain. Upheavals came from his chest, he found at one point he couldn't breathe and was gasping so drastically that he felt the girl's hand land on his chest, trying to force air into him. In any other situation, he might have felt alarmed at these actions, but as mentioned afore, he couldn't think about much else. The thing was truly killing him, he was dying, leaving, and going- a huge swell of pain went through his body, and he gasped in terror and shock as whatever it was left. He could breathe again, and was lying on his back now, Willow having dropped him. Somehow that had killed the flames; he was no longer on fire.

The pain was finally gone, and even as brief as that had been, Wilson felt like it had lasted ages. The pain had lessened a bit but he was stinging with it, and everything hurt. As he breathed slowly, he looked at Willow from an angle, who was gasping herself. When she saw him looking at her, her face went to a sorrowful one, like it was her fault he had ended up with whatever it was inside of him.

"I'm sorry, I … I didn't know what it was… and fire seemed to be the only reasonable way." He could only gasp and nod at that, to which she relaxed a tiny bit.

"I… I don't… know what that… was." He admitted, but saw that she was nodding too.

"I have never heard of thorn bushes that leave some dark spirit in their victim that causes the most painful death ever, but … I do suppose that it only seems realistic that this would be the place to have that kind of thing."

"I do suppose… it- it would … be."

"I'm sorry if I alarmed you when I first appeared, once again I had jumped to the idea that fire would be the only thing to help. I was right, but then it didn't really occur to me that I would have to actually set you on fire later."

"It's … okay." Wilson nodded lightly, his breathing less shaky now.

"Good. I'm going to go lay some traps not far from here. Try to avoid dying anytime soon." She teased very lightly, and he smiled weakly.

Willow had left, and Higgsbury was left to his own thoughts. It had certainly been a strange way to meet someone in this horrid land, and little did he know that she would become his most trusted traveling companion along the way.

 **A/N: Hello all! I hope you enjoyed this! At first and still kinda I intended for this to be a one-shot, but I might possibly write more chapters if it's liked enough and people ask for it, and if I feel that it is indeed needed to be continued. So please, if you did like it, leave a review and quite possibly I might continue it. Thank you for reading, and please, review, review, review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I decided that I would continue it, as I did find it rather captivating myself. And apparently after many months of waiting as well, even though the majority of this chapter was already typed up…**

 **Combined Gamers: Well thank you! Sorry for taking so long with the more part... yeah. Finally here it is. Hopefully you read this chapter. Promise to make more.**

 **Catquat Vixen: Thank you so much as well! And here is the more, as I said above, sorry for taking so long with it.**

 **divine Comedian: Thanks so much as well!**

 **So here's chapter two!**

There was only the sound of birds in the air when he awoke. Groaning, Wilson forced his groggy eyes opened and found that he was still lying on his back covered in webs where he had fallen asleep the previous night. Willow had probably gone off to do things, though he had no doubt she would be back soon. He only wanted to get back to his camp soon, and with the way things looked, he wasn't sure he was really going to get there in time to save his food or supplies.

And he'd worked so hard… sighing, he tried to move to a more sitting position, but the scientist found that he was in too much pain to even preform this simple task and was forced to give up, reduced to lying back down with his hands behind his back. Why it was still this painful, he had no clue. All he wished was that Willow would listen to him if he tried to explain to her about his whole thing with the camp and his fear of it being raided, or destroyed. All he had worked for was in there, and while it wasn't far away, he certainly couldn't see it on the ground.

"Wilson?" called a voice, Willow, "Wilson, are you awake?"

"Yes." He tried to call back but found his voice was creaky. After clearing his throat, he found he could only give a mildly quiet reply, and would have to wait until Willow appeared. Possibly he was clogged up due to something in the air overnight, he wasn't sure, but he hoped it wasn't anything too serious. Getting sick was the worst thing that could happen right now.

Soon she had come up right next to him, and once she had seen he was awake, she smiled gently.

"I cooked up a bit of rabbit for breakfast. I hope it will be filling enough." She said, holding up a piece of rabbit leg.

"It's fine." He said hoarsely, smiling ever so slightly.

After eating, or rather, devouring the rabbit leg (and not in the least bit of a gentlemanly manner) he addressed Willow with the problem of his camp, and how he feared he would not be getting back there in time. She had other plans, which acquired of her going and finding the camp and checking up on it, then possibly somehow getting him there. He was too weak to even think of standing, so that was out of the list of options.

"Well I'll go find it. I really hope I don't cause you any trouble by leaving you unprotected."

"I have an axe with me, I'm not completely defenseless." He put on his arrogant air, staring at her stiffly. He really wasn't, why did she seem to think he was?

"Okay, well… I'll go find it. You said it's that way, right?" She pointed west.

"Yes."

Willow got up and left him once more, smiling briefly to assure him that she would be fine. Wilson on the other hand wasn't so certain. He somehow knew he was going to be visited by a certain someone…

"Hey pal, you look worse than I remember." The snide tone cut through the air. He was standing right next to Wilson.

"Maxwell, I'm telling you, I do not need your help."

"Are you sure, pal? You seem like you do. I expect you're enjoying the company of the puppet I sent to you."

"Puppet…?" Wilson's face paled, he realized why Willow was there, he knew now…

"My dear fellow, you can't have honestly thought that she was here by chance!" Mock astonishment came from the man's mouth, the corners of his lips tugging in a smirk.

"I simply didn't even think about it once."

"Oh, but you have so much more you could learn… if you survived. I suspect you think she's going to bring your amulet for you? Is that it, pal?"

"Well I didn't mention the amulet…" He stammered.

"And you simply thought she would find it? Pal, if you honestly thought the girl was that brilliant, you obviously figured she wouldn't steal any of your food, or if you just assumed she was good all the way through, then you are truly a fool in many ways."

"What do you mean?" Wilson asked in an accusing voice.

"I mean that she is not exactly the most trustful. She did burn down full towns back home, accused of witchcraft by more than a few crazy old men. But this is merely a warning. I'm not saying I purposefully set her on you, I merely mean it in a courteous old way that you would not understand. I do hope she comes back." Maxwell moved down by his ear, kneeling awkwardly no doubt. "You'd best be alert."

With a gust of wind the man was gone, or the projection of the man, and Wilson shook his head slightly. If what the man had said Willow had done, the Gentleman Scientist would only keep alert, but he was not going to condemn the girl with some foul crime. Half of what came out of Maxwell's mouth was lies anyways, he couldn't be trusted. Thus Wilson ignored his warnings for the time being and awaited the return of the girl.

It was not long before he saw her shape in the distance, and watched as she moved closer at a slow pace. He could see Willow had several bags of things in her hands, probably food, but he was mostly grateful that she had returned. Not that he believed in Maxwell's lies, but he was still on the edge slightly. She was soon next to him, and upon seeing his slightly worried face, Willow raised an eyebrow.

"What?" She placed a bag down, staring at him.

"Oh, I was… merely counting the bags you had." He lied easily, too easily for him to feel okay about it.

"I'll believe that the minute you stop staring at me." She moved closer to him. "Here's that amulet you wanted."

He took it gratefully and placed the chain around his neck slowly, looking away from her. Wilson was hoping it would help him, and indeed, he felt a good bit better. Slowly, he dragged his torso up and managed to sit up and stay that way. Willow was looking down at him with a small amount of concern spreading across her face.

"You are sure you'll be okay, right?" She sounded way too concerned, much more than she looked.

"I'm sure, I'll be fine." He decided he definitely felt better.

"If you say so…"

Wilson nodded and grunted slightly as a small amount of pain worked its way up his back. He was frustrated with what that man had told him and didn't want to give anything away to Willow if she suspected anything. He wasn't going to allow that.

"I think it would be better if you just stayed here, lying down, for now. Sleep, again, perhaps? You look worn out. And I'll take care of any cooking or something that needs to be done." She shook her dark head of hair and started moving away.

He had no response to that. He'd already slept for too long and had no patience to repeat it all over again, yet at the same time, he didn't want to move really, at all anyways. Closing his eyes, Wilson began to think things over for a while, for the first time since Willow had come into his life. Whatever she was going to create in his life, he needed to be careful, even if he didn't like letting Maxwell's warnings affect him in the least.

 **A/N: Well that is that for this chapter, I suppose I will write another one soon! I hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading and please, review, review, review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I owe you all one so here's the next chapter.**

 **Guest(Jan 23 one): Agreed. Wilson should listen. Better. More than he does. Less to Maxwell. More to Willow. We all like Willow.**

 **PinkSaphira: Thank you! Here's your next chapter!**

 **Drillbee Automaton: YAYYY! And yeah so am I. So am I.**

 **And to those who wonder who that OTHER guest reviewer was….he was a goofy friend of mine who I told about my fanfic writing and decided to write some silly reviews. Just clearing that up. That's all.**

 **And here we go, on our next adventure!**

He awoke for the second time under a tree. Having absolutely no idea how he'd gotten there-and honestly not wanting to but at the same time questioning it for a few minutes before he tried to sit up-he looked around once he did and saw that Willow had moved the entirety of where they had been. The dreams he'd just had were disturbing, and he didn't want to dwell on them but simply thinking of her was enough to bring them back in full glory. All had provided some blood and very shrill screaming coming from different bodies, sometimes he wasn't sure if it was his or the figure in front of him. Needless to say, sleep had been very distasteful.

Willow was indeed seated a little ways away with a fire. Looking quite distracted by it, staring right into it with her large white eyes, she appeared to be much too focused on what it was doing rather than himself. Feeling a little better but also trying not to yell at Willow for being such a dunce, he regained his composure and sat up a bit farther, wondering if walking was an exhibition he could partake in again.

It was indeed a very long struggle, but finally Wilson got himself into standing position and made his way slowly toward her. She was far too distracted to see him, but as the amulet seemed to have done its job, he was going to let her know of it.

"Ahem." He cleared his throat a little, waiting for her to turn and look at him. She gave a little jump, then settled back down upon seeing it was him. As if he were harmless.

"Oh, Wilson. It's just you." She even sounded bored.

"Oh, Willow, yes it is just me." High amounts of sarcasm usually did it, and yes indeed, it got the reaction he wanted.

"I was concerned about you, but now that you're better, I'm not, okay? So get over it. You're going to survive. And then we're going to start attempting to get out of here together." She sounded far too certain.

"Might I let you know that getting out is not the easiest thing and you probably won't succeed with even a man such as myself."

Sitting down near the fire, but not near Willow, he looked at her, hands cupped under his chin. She seemed a bit disconcerted, but unlike what Maxwell had said, not exactly dangerous. Not at least, someone he was terrified of. Yet.

It also seemed to occur to the Gentleman Scientist in the moment that what Willow had replied with and acted with was what she was like. This was Willow, the real one. Not the one he'd been seeing before, and possibly quite dangerous compared to the one before. She also was less friendly, but at the same time more than himself. At least she wanted to go do it all together. He couldn't stand the idea of having to stay in a camp with more than just himself and the creatures that roamed these woods.

"You're silent." An unnecessary comment.

"I was thinking."

"You're always thinking. Isn't there anything else you can do? Like, oh, I don't know, hunt for food or maybe, build a house?" Now it was just plain teasing. This was quite unfair.

"I can build science machinery, if that's what you were looking for, and I have a mind for mathematics." He pointed this out to only make her frustrated with him, and so she did.

"Mathematics and machinery are hardly helpful in a land like this. Is that really all you can do? No wonder you nearly got yourself killed." Sighing, she turned to look at him, a dead-eye stare.

"Oh, I've had that happen more than just once." He gave a small smirk at this, but nothing too extraordinary. It was un-ladylike of her to act this way anyways.

"Well you would have actually died had I not pulled you out of that one, am I right?"

He didn't reply. It was useless to argue further, as she had a point and was correct. There was far too much going on right now anyways to think about how he'd died in the past. Some were more painful than others, some consisted of more screams while some just stayed rooted to his memory as rather quick and short. Each time afterward that man had visited him, with a warning or with a laugh at how he'd nearly died. It was rather ironic to Wilson in a funny, twisted way, because Maxwell was not one to laugh at anything but pain and yet he often seemed to be in pain himself.

Willow probably had never met the man. If she were his puppet, she hadn't known about him at all. It was all Wilson could do to try and describe him to her, and even if he did, that'd land them somewhere they didn't need to be and where he was trying to avoid exactly. Talking about it only increased his fear of it all, of having someone who might just be there to kill him off anyways, so it was better that he didn't ask about Maxwell.

"So, feeling loads of pain anymore?" She prodded the fire with a stick.

"Not nearly as much. It's less like knives now and more like pricks."

As calm as this conversation was, the more he was thinking about Maxwell, the more he was thinking about asking her about him. Despite having denied the existence of this question, now that it was there, he wanted to ask her about it. A very indecisive person was what he'd found himself becoming in this place. In fact perhaps it was this very place that had sparked interest in anything he was completely shut down to before.

"Why don't we go hunting?" A sudden offer from the girl caused him to jerk his head up again and look right at her.

"Well I suppose we could. That is, if you'd like to." He felt a little nervous about hunting with her, but maybe it was indeed for the best.

"If you're fine with it, so am I. And anyways, you need more food. I have the feeling with the two of us, it's going to be rough to get enough food to eat." She had this small smile on her lips like something was up.

He nodded slowly, and coming to his feet, realized maybe the amulet should stay with them instead of taking it off as he'd planned. Once she was collecting hunting stuff, he covered it with his shirt, to make it less obvious that he was concerned about dying out there with her than he thought it might be. A voice whispered in his ear that this was far too dangerous, it was the same voice that yesterday had warned him about her. Instead, he threw it out of the other ear. He was now more interested in finding out about her than worrying about death and being killed by her, and it was probably all for the best.

 **A/N: Well, I hope you enjoyed that! Thanks for reading that was chapter 3! I'm interested in seeing what happens on this hunting trip…well thanks again, and please, review, review, review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: *gasps* So sorry for not being around! Goodness…I'm lazy.**

 **Well here we go, a-hunting a… a things. Things. Pigs, I suppose.**

They approached the herd as quietly as possible; Willow leading the way as Wilson followed behind, armed with a rather horrible sword and wondering if this was going to end as well as they wanted it to. It seemed that Willow was very determined on killing one of the beasts. Wilson would allow her to do as she pleased, he wasn't sure he wanted to know what Willow on a killing rampage was like and nor did he want to find out. A whisper in his ear caught him off guard, but he shook his head a bit to get rid of it, trying not to distract her or gain the attention of the beefalos.

The beefalo, as the Gentleman Scientist had quickly discovered, were possibly some of the most ornery creatures in this world. It was strange to admit, but he truly didn't understand them and didn't like them, for that matter, so approaching them in this manner wasn't something he found very entertaining. Willow no doubt did-but she had a very twisted sense of humor, Wilson could already tell.

"Stay back. I'll set something on fire first." She hissed back to him, and he glared at her.

"I am able to do things, you are aware of this." Wilson held up the sword in his hand, trying to make sure she was aware he was perfectly capable of this.

"I am aware of that, but seeing as I don't trust you not to fall over, let's just say, it's my turn to hunt. You hang back unless I need it. You're just back up, Wilson." Willow tossed her ponytails sideways with an air that he could practically see, and he shook his head.

"Well I wish you good luck on that." Beefalo weren't nice, and she obviously couldn't do it herself. As a gentleman, he was inclined to offer his help and giving up this easily was a little more than just a stab in his pride. _Another_ stab in his pride, not to mention.

He peered over the bush in anticipation of what may come next as Willow silently stalked across the plain to the crowd of large, furry animals. She held her lighter in her left hand-so maybe she was planning on doing something with that. Lighting a whole herd on fire was definitely something he never would plan on recommending to anyone ever, and he shook his head as he watched her continue on with a fierce determination. Willow truly was a strange human to encounter, what with her pyromaniac skills and determination that did not suit a proper lady as he saw it…

It was in that instant as he consulted his knowledge of "proper women" that she attacked the beefalo with fire. Once the first one was on fire and running around bellowing, the rest seemed to follow it; oh sure they were stubborn, but Wilson had already calculated that they were the least smart of every creature out here. Some others began to catch on fire, it was a very strange sight indeed to see, these large lumbering creatures reduced to shrieking, and in the midst of it all was Willow. She held up her weapon and killed one before Wilson could suggest perhaps a burned beefalo was not the best idea.

Once the stampede had subsided to a small circle of consulting beefalo-two words he'd never thought he'd put together-Willow came slowly back with her small collection behind her, struggling to drag it. He forgot entirely of his present state and ran out to meet her.

"That went far better than it may have, Miss Willow." He ran a hand through his messy black hair, watching her pant before replying.

"I think it went awfully well, mind you. Now help me get this back to camp." Any other woman would never have been so demanding for help, but he obliged just to please her and anyways, it was food for a while, or so it looked.

He was in silent thought for a while as they walked back. The woman clutched her lighter like a small child would a stuffed animal, and she made no comment on his silence. Perhaps it was just assumed he was always thinking now when he got to be like this. The Gentleman Scientist wouldn't have minded this appearance, because she did talk an awful lot. It was strange to be talking to someone after such a long time of not having done so, and it was strange to try and be social with just one person. Willow just enjoyed the teasing part of it, he was sure of that.

It was late afternoon by the time they arrived back at the camp after a bit of wandering due to her horrible directional habits. Wilson dropped the meat by the fire pit and went stiffly to his bag to check upon a few things. He was terribly sore still, she had probably been right in not letting him hunt but it still hurt his feelings to think about it like that.

"You want to cook these tonight or wait?" A little jolt went up his spine: she was right behind him.

"I say we cook one and leave the other."

"Sounds like someone's a little stingy with their essentials." There was no doubt a smirk on that face of hers, but Higgsbury ignored it and continued going through his bag.

Several moments later, he realized she was still standing there, peeking over his shoulder and looking at what was in his bag.

"Excuse me, Miss Willow, I think you might find other joys in cooking or something that has to do with flame. I am currently trying to find a few things that we may need."

"Don't mind me. Just looking." Willow had the personality of a 12 year old boy. "What is with your way of approaching me as a "Miss" now? That's a new habit."

"It's a formal way of talking to a lady such as you. At the moment I'm considering calling you simply "girl" for your behavior." He sighed and stood up, equipped with a bit of flint. Willow indeed wore a smirk but she gave a different look at the flint in his arms.

"You are aware I can start a fire, right?" An eyebrow was raised.

"Perfectly so, but I prefer it if we keep this on hand in case the situation provides need for it."

Wilson stalked down toward the fire pit with the flint in his hands-a little stiffly and perhaps it looked awkward, but he ignored any snickers from behind. The beefalo were lying there without having been skinned yet and he was aware that the joy of such things was up to him. Willow certainly wouldn't take such a task into her own hands even if she were a little more like a child than a grown woman.

Pulling out his small knife, he sat down and began to scrape the skin off. It was a work in progress that required all attention. If she dare to interrupt him, he may have to throw his knife in her face. But Willow settled down across from him, attending to the fire with the logs that were stacked there. She was seemingly content and not in the mood for talking. That was perfectly alright with him.

"Do you ever think you'll make it out of here?" Talking seemed the only thing she could do. He took back what he had thought of her being content. Clearly her mind was on darker things.

"I do. But then I realize it's probably inevitable. There are no coordinates to a place like this, no telling where you'd end up if you tried." He gave a shake of his head.

"Have you met anyone else here?" A prying question he so dearly wished to deny.

"I…why?" The Gentleman Scientist looked up from his work and gave her a keen look, or what he hoped was one, demanding to know why she asked such a thing.

"There was this…this thing…no, a … a man…" A shiver ran straight down his spine.

"A...a man?"

"Yes, a man. A tall, dark man with eyes like a crow's, he's awfully poetic for such a strange person." For some reason she sounded remorseful.

"He said hello when I entered. He brought me here. And he has visited me on … on the occasion."

"You just stole the words right out of my mouth!"

"I never asked you how you came to be in this wretched place." He wanted to get off of the topic of Maxwell and wanted to focus on something else, perhaps what they were to do with all of this meat, for shivers were running up and down him now.

"I…I don't think now is exactly the time to tell you that. Wilson, you're the one I'm curious about. How did you come to be here?" Willow's great white eyes stared at him; she was just as stiff as he was, maybe more.

"It was all a dreadful, tragic mistake, my dear. I did not mean for it to occur and yet…he has his ways I suppose." The name was like a horrible whisper spoken between them, and he saw her go a little slack when he said the words "my dear" like she really was a child. "I built that machine and I paid for it dearly, with all of what I lived for and do. I never really had anyone…did it reappear? Have I caused more grief?"

"The machine…yes…but as I said I am not wholly comfortable with that." She sounded a little pitying. Did Willow possibly feel sorry for him? He did not want to feel the pity but now he was wallowing in the darkness once more, feeling desperate.

"I created something no one should have ever seen, and simply all because I am too terribly greedy." Wilson whispered in near horror, knowing she heard it.

"You're not greedy, Wilson." It was the first time in a little while that she sounded soft. "I think it was that he appeals to what one wants. A trick, to pull you into this world, which is how it starts."

"Perhaps you are correct, Miss Willow."

"Oh, and the "Miss" thing? If you wouldn't mind stopping it…it makes you sound like him."

A cool breeze blew past his ear. Wilson was seated near the fire, Willow on the other side still and still feeding it logs. They had stopped talking a while ago, and now voices whispered in and around them. The darkness had settled in. It was hard to sleep when one was constantly hearing threats and murmurs from every side, and neither could seem to close their eyes. Something was out there tonight, something or someone they both equally feared. The conversation had ended with the last word spoken and they had even eaten silently. Wilson was a bit surprised she had been able to quiet down, but something had caused Willow to go solemn.

The sounds of something drawing nearer caused both of their drifting heads to perk up and peer through the darkness, inching a little in the direction of each other for comfort. They were spread out on either side, but Wilson found himself wanting someone else there if something was about to attack. It was better than sitting by one's lonesome. The breeze continued blowing and then it stopped. It was as if someone had flicked a switch to silence the breeze.

Out of the darkness stepped something. Someone, a someone in black so it was hard to see the figure but both knew who it was. Willow let out a soft sigh as if giving in and Wilson stiffened, clutching his axe closer to his side. The tall figure stepped into the light.

"Well isn't this convenient, pal?" Maxwell smiled a horrible, gleaming white smile.

 **A/N: Dun dun dun. Well that was chapter 4. I hope to update sooner than I did last time. I don't know where I'm ending this story, but we'll see eventually. Can't promise extremely long. Perhaps a little short. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading, and please, review, review, review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Aye, I'm back again. And I do believe it may be the last time…but I am not sure yet. Short but it was a good run, guys. I have another fic idea for this very genre as well, so I'm excited to see if I can get that up and running after others are finished.**

 **Pour: Yeah, I agree, to not being finished. It's not that you've driven me to this short end with your review; in fact it is because I feel like I've rounded it to a nice little story that went quite well in my opinion. I didn't have plans for it lasting a very long time anyways. But thank you!**

 **And onwards!**

For ages after the sudden, horrible appearance of Maxwell, they remained seated silently. Wilson felt shivers run up his spine as he stared at the thin man who was still grinning in a skeletal way. He felt like the whole earth were shaking below at the sight of such a hideous being, and he would not blame it if it was. In fact, the Gentleman Scientist himself was nearly shaking to the core. It was a shock to think Maxwell could appear as so, so randomly and unexpectedly.

"I suppose you want to remain out here till we freeze to death?" This was not said without courtesy, as Wilson noted, but clearly the man was not pleased with them sitting silent. "I'd like to get a move on with this meeting; I have a project to work on once I return."

"Return to where?! Why are you here?!" Willow burst, shrieking in ignorance to the look Wilson shot at her.

"Ah, my darling puppet, I am here to remind you both of your mortality rates. It is not I who will perish in the darkness," Maxwell shifted a hand toward the fire, which indeed was burning slightly lower.

Wilson made a move to grab a piece of wood; but Willow beat him to it, lighting her lighter while staring at Maxwell. The strange thing was that Wilson could hardly bear to look into the face of his enemy, the one he feared more than anything, and he didn't know what he was to do about it all. Here they were: unprotected, unable to protect themselves, and stuck with the most dangerous man alive. At least, alive here. It appeared Wilson did not equal his stature in danger.

Maxwell flicked his hand slightly, a shadow rising from the palm of it, "I am here," he paused for dramatic effect, no doubt, "to see what path you will chose."

"Path? And what path, might I ask you, sir?" Wilson took it upon himself to speak now, gulping down his fear and staring into the eyes of the man.

"The paths that are offered, of course. Work together, die together. Kill one, live."

"It doesn't sound like much of a good deal." The grumble came from Willow.

"Have I ever said it would be a fair choice? You ask too much of me, Miss. Willow." Wilson inhaled sharply at the name Maxwell had given her, and decided no matter what, he would not be using that one again.

"Since when have I had the chance to ask you for a choice? I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere with a scientist who clearly was not one who studied the outdoors much at all, and you're saying I could kill him or I could stick with him? I get nothing out of either one." The words stung a bit coming from her mouth, he had to admit it. Sure, they'd only known each other for such a short while, but he'd expected a bit more appreciation from her.

"Exactly. I suggest killing him. It saves time." Maxwell said pleasantly as if he was giving a child the option of a cookie or ice cream, not trying to make a murderer out of a perfectly respectable woman.

"I'm not doing that either. If I have to stick with Wilson, I will." Willow had her arms crossed, but no emotion on her face.

"And what about you, our gentleman scientist? This land will take the gentleman out of you, of that I am sure." The tall man turned to him now, with a slightly angered look now.

"I will not kill anyone to get rid of them." Wilson shook his head.

"You might end up doing that eventually anyway." He said it so softly, Wilson wasn't sure he had heard it correctly. "Alright, then, let us consider another option. You travel together and see how that goes, or I take one of you back with me. You won't be a murderer."

"Why do you care so much about us being in the same place?" Willow hissed at him.

It was a good question, Wilson admitted to himself afterwards. It had a nice ring to it as well, and made perfect sense. Why did they need to be separated? He had finally found another living human being and Maxwell was determined he didn't-that's when it hit him. Feeling a bit flustered at thinking of this, he looked at the ground, not wanting them to see he'd caught onto anything. If Willow was a dangerous as he'd once been told, he didn't believe it nearly so much now.

"Because, my dear, the world cannot be inhabited by a pair who are happy together. You know by now it thrives on the lost, and I would hate for it to be overtaken by you two."

"Neither of us will take up the last offer. We stay together, you leave. Nothing more." Wilson made sure he sounded harsh as he said this, glaring now at Maxwell.

"You think you're going to like this choice, aren't you, pal? I wish you both luck with this adventure. You may find you'll regret your choices." The eerie smile was the last thing that faded into the darkness as Maxwell backed away and disappeared, as that's what Wilson figured he had done.

Turning to Willow, he saw her large white eyes were a bit shaken up looking. She seemed uncomfortable with what had just occurred. Not that he couldn't blame her-the feeling was mutual. The breeze returned almost immediately, as if indeed it had been a switch. Something in the back of his mind whispered it had been, but Wilson didn't like to think about that. It wasn't a terribly scientific option to explore.

There was an answer to everything. The motto he'd kept for so long. And now, Wilson feared it was breaking apart at the core all because of the strangeness of this dark land. He shivered as the breeze passed once more, thinking of better times when the world wasn't eternally dark and he wasn't stuck in such a limbo position. Power seemed to be everything to Maxwell. Clearly he wanted them to tear at each other's throats. Wilson didn't want to do that at all, it was completely ungentlemanly, not to mention he didn't desire to kill anyone-

"WILSON!" Willow was right up in his face, staring at him. He jumped almost two feet in the air from the shock, staring at her widely.

"Wh-what is it?"

"I've been calling your name for the past few minutes, Wilson. We need to decide something. Make an arrangement, I suppose." She played with a piece of wood on the ground, seated comfortably next to him now.

He shook his head, "I'm not going to kill you, Willow."

"I never said that's what you needed to do. We need to decide if it's better to stick together like glue or if we should break our friendship if that's what this is called, and go our own ways for the sake of this entire…our lives."

"Stick together, of course!" He was shocked she would think of doing anything else in a land like this!

"But you heard Maxwell…He doesn't want us to last."

"I will not allow the stuffy head of that man to clog up our minds with fear. I'm not going to just do what he says because he threatens us. He has already. Plenty of times before to me." Wilson became suddenly fascinated with a piece of grass.

"You…Okay." Willow sighed. "I'll do it. We'll travel together. But don't get yourself caught on any more deadly things, got it?"

Wilson nodded. They needed to stay together. The last thing he needed was to be stuck once more in thorns, and to not be able to escape by fire.

 **A/N: that is indeed how I end a lot of my stories don't yell at me. That, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and all in-between, is the end! Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed, and please, review, review, review!**


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